Thornes Park

The Council bought the Thornes House estate and opened Thornes Park to the public in 1924.

Thornes Park is the biggest of all three parks and is where most of the attractions are situated.

The most popular are the rose gardens, conservatory, lake and the aviary.

The sporting facilities can be found in Thornes Park, these include the bowling greens, tennis courts, putting green and pitch and putt, as well as Football Fields and changing rooms.

Visitors will also find a state of the art skate park and large children’s play area and if this was not enough, it is also possible to take a ride on miniature steam trains.

Wakefield council also house their Athletics Stadium here. www.wakefield.gov.uk

The Friends of CHaT Parks have added to the parks in recent years, restoring a large, old, formal garden that had been abandoned for over a quarter of a century. The Secret Garden can be found in between the stadium, nurseries and college site and the best pedestrian access is off Gill Sike Road.